Message of "Centralia' resonates more deeply since Sept. 11

June 28, 2002|By Gina Conti Special to The Morning Call - Freelance

On Sept. 11, Joe Whelski watched the Twin Towers burn from the window of his midtown Manhattan office building. Like many New Yorkers who saw the events unfold, Whelski, an actor and Web page designer, began to question whether he wanted to live in the city.

Nine months later, Whelski finds himself playing a character who faces a similar threat to his hometown -- Michael Powers, a resident of Centralia, the tiny northeastern Pennsylvania town, where a coal mine fire that began in 1962 is still burning 40 years later.

"Centralia," written and directed by Deryl Johnson, professor of speech communication and theater at Kutztown, with music by Kutztown professor emeritus Charles Scanzello, runs Saturday through July 7 at Kutztown University.

Whelski played the same role in 1998 as a senior at Kutztown University when "Centralia" debuted. He has juggled his work responsibilities and taken vacation time to reprise the role.

"You find a new strength when you're facing a situation like this," says Whelski, a native of neighboring Pottsville and the grandson and great-grandson of coal miners. "It makes you look at new parts of yourself. That's what Centralians have done for the last 40 years."

Johnson feels that the issues of Centralia are resonating more with people now than they did four years ago.

"I think people can relate to them more after Sept. 11. They've gone through a lot of tragedies and this is just another one."

"Centralia" tells the history of the town from its founding in 1865 to the present day through the stories of its residents, who have kept the memories of their town burning.

In 1962, illegally burned trash in an abandoned coal shaft sparked Centralia's mine fire. At the time, about 1,600 people lived in Centralia and there were about 680 buildings. Today, there are 15 people and about a dozen homes. Most of Centralia's exodus occurred in the early 1980s after a voluntary $42 million federal buyout. In the early 1990s, Gov. Robert Casey declared eminent domain, though it has not been enforced.

"A lot of the original people who helped me have either moved or passed away. I wanted to honor them on this anniversary," says Johnson, noting that the first production sold out two weeks before the show opened and hundreds were turned away.

More than 50 people attended a performance Sunday of "Centralia" in nearby Mount Carmel, which raised more than $500 for the Centralia Fire Department. Proceeds from the Kutztown performances will fund student scholarships.

"I really wanted to find a way to update the project and thank all the people, past and present Centralians, who have helped me with the project," says Johnson.

Johnson, born the same month and year that Centralia's mine fire began and in a Nebraska town of the same size, first heard about Centralia in a poem written by Karen Blomain, a colleague at Kutztown. When he visited Centralia in 1997, Johnson was fascinated by the willingness of the residents to share their stories.

Notes Whelski: "From the moment that we went up there as a cast to see Centralia, the attention people gave to us, how much they shared, you could just tell that there really was this spirit in the town that in the play Deryl really tries to convey."

Johnson spent about 18 months researching "Centralia." He discovered a rich history beset with much tragedy. The play notes the story of a Centralia couple whose argument about whether to stay or leave led to a murder-suicide in 1980.

Long before the mine fire, in 1908, an aboveground fire destroyed a block of Locust Avenue, the town's main street. In 1868, town founder Alexander Ray was murdered by the Molly Maguires, a pre-labor society. At the time, Centralia's priest, who preached against the Molly Maguires at the direction of the Philadelphia archbishop and was beaten up, cursed the town, saying, "One day this town will be erased from the face of the Earth. Only the church will stand."

Built in 1868, Centralia's Catholic church, St. Ignatius, stood until 1997. Johnson videotaped its demolition and it is that image that opens the show. During the play's run, visitors can view the cross from St. Ignatius' steeple in an adjoining exhibit room, along with other framed portraits, photographs, postcards that date back 100 years and turn-of-the-century clothing.

Johnson has become an "expert" on Centralia, giving interviews to media from around the world. They include the Australian Broadcasting Co., which videotaped the Mount Carmel performance for a documentary. Johnson has received about 100 requests for copies of the play's 40-page souvenir program that contains photos and stories; that program will be updated to include recent photographs.